Fats and oils are an important source of energy, have an important role as carriers of fat-soluble vitamins and have indispensable functional properties in improving the quality of food products with respect to such properties as texture, flavor and structure.
The therapeutic properties of some oils, such as olive oil and fish oil have been widely documented. Olive oil has been indicated as having a therapeutic effect in stomach ailments (1, 1a), increasing memory (2), decreasing mortality from heart disease due to increasing blood flow (3) and softening skin (4). Additionally, olive oil is used in relieving ear infection, may reduce the risk of certain cancers (5, 6), decreases calcium loss from bones and increases mineral absorption (7). In children, olive oil and fish oil has been linked to stimulating growth and development (8). Other oils recognized as being “healthy” include avocado oil, walnut oil and macadamia oil.
Food spreads such as margarine and butter are a preferred manner of consuming oil products in the Western world. Food spreads are used in the home and in industry for cooking, baking, and in the preparation of sandwiches and numerous other food products. In recent years, attention has been directed to producing healthier food spreads in the form of reduced fat alternatives to the existing products.
Margarines are generally water/oil emulsions. The taste of margarine and related food spreads is due mostly to water-soluble flavors, oil-soluble flavors and salt. Margarine type products contain at least 80% of fat by weight. The fat content is made up mainly of hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated fats and oils. As is known to one skilled in the art hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated fats and oils (suspected carcinogens) as well as trans isomer fatty acids (suspected as contributing to athersclerosis formation) are not considered particularly healthy for human consumption.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,895, U.S. Pat. No. 4,284,655 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,409,727 teach of food spreads that are all substantially an oil in water emulsions. U.S. Pat. No. 5,360,626 teaches a food spread containing an aqueous phase and an oil phase.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,360,626 discloses an edible food product containing an oil or fat thickened with a hardening agent comprising an alkyl-substituted, non-nitrogen containing oil-soluble polymer having a molecular weight of at least 2000 Dalton.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,376,398 teaches a fat substitute useful for preparing a reduced calorie food product, the fat substitute comprising an edible triglyceride and a polytetramethylene ether glycol esterified with a fatty acid entity. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,376,398 teaches a food product where the fat component thereof is a polyteramethylene ether glycol esterified with a fatty acid entity.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,117,476 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,156,369 teach edible oil-based food spreads that overcome the problems discussed above. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,117,476 a waterless mixture composed of 90% to 98% oil and 2% to 10% monoglyceride gives a smearable product at normal eating temperature. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,156,369 a waterless mixture composed of 85% to 98% oil, 2% to 15% monoglyceride and in some cases up to 0.05% emulsifier such as Tween® is disclosed. In both U.S. Pat. No. 6,117,476 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,156,369 different edible oils are used but olive oil and fish oil are preferred. In both U.S. Pat. No. 6,117,476 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,156,369 any monoglyceride is used, but oleic or palmitic acid derivatives are preferred. In both case a process of manufacture is disclosed where an oil/monoglyceride mixture is heated to no more than 75° C.
It would be highly advantageous to have a viscous to solid oil product with a pleasing texture that can be made with no harmful additives and can be produced without heating to a degree which may cause the oil to become unhealthy.
Herein, the term “fat” and the term “oil” shall be used interchangeably to refer collectively to fats and oils.